The Brooklyn Nets improved their postseason record to 4-1 with a 99-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night. It’s hard to break down much of anything when the Nets, who are missing two starters, take on the 76ers, who are missing fifteen NBA-quality players. But here’s a few quick takeaways:
- The 76ers are barely a basketball team, and the crowd showed the fervor that they’d show while watching a high school team that lived 200 miles away; fans were noticeably deader than in their loss to the Boston Celtics Monday night. Matchups matter.
- Mirza Teletovic (save one half in China) and Bojan Bogdanovic have not shot well in preseason. It’s preseason. Don’t be concerned yet.
- With Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez both out for the second straight game, Lionel Hollins tinkered with the Nets lineup, starting Andrei Kirilenko in place of Teletovic. Kirilenko looked spry in his debut start, attacking the lane with confidence and throwing passes from weird angles, but I don’t know if he’ll ever make consecutive free throws again.
- Mason Plumlee, who had a below-average rebound rate, picked up 17 rebounds in the starting lineup. So there’s that.
- The Nets ran out their official pregame introduction video, interspersing photos of the players in action with Brooklyn brownstones, bridges, bistros, and bicycles as “Put On” by Atlanta native Young Jeezy played in the background. Understated cool, if a bit confusing.
- Some nice pocket passes, drives, and fanciness from Deron Williams, and outside of the requisite “it’s preseason, so shoot whatever the hell you want” moments, he did nothing to disprove his health. He did wear a wrap on his right wrist, but it didn’t appear to impede his play.
- With four players on non-guaranteed contracts, two open roster spots, and a big man with notorious foot problems, have to imagine that Jerome Jordan and Cory Jefferson make the team out of preseason, while Willie Reed and Jorge Gutierrez get the boot.
